Former Indian Air Chief Denies Bribery

S.P. Tyagi, former head of India’s air force, is facing allegations from Italian prosecutors that he and his family received bribes from Italian middlemen to steer a 560-million-euro deal to purchase 12 helicopters to AgustaWestland, a unit of Italian defense contractor Finmeccanica SpA.

This week, Italian police arrested Finmeccanica Chief Executive Giuseppe Orsi in connection with a probe into alleged bribes paid to win the contract, which was signed in 2010. Mr. Orsi has denied wrongdoing and has not been formally charged.

Mr. Tyagi, in an interview on Thursdsay, denied claims made in the investigation report that he had allegedly received bribes to change the specifications for an order of helicopters to enable AgustaWestland to win the tender.

He said the decision to change the specifications had occurred in 2003, while he did not become air force chief until Jan. 1, 2005.

He said Indian bureaucrats had complained about a plan by the air force to buy helicopters from France-headquartered company Eurocopter Group to transport VIPs. Initially, India had planned to buy from Eurocopter as the company’s helicopters were able to fly to 18,000 feet, allowing Indian politicians to reach deep into the Himalayas.

But in 2003, the government decided it only needed to buy helicopters that could fly to 15,000 feet, Mr. Tyagi said. Bureaucrats also felt the cabin size of the Europcopter machines were too small and uncomfortable for VIPs. So the specifications were changed to purchase helicopters with larger cabins.

“One allegation was that they paid the money so that I could change the height from 18,000 to 15,000. Now, this is a blatant lie,” Mr. Tyagi said. Italian prosecutors claim Finmeccanica executives “paid money through my brothers. And what did they pay money for? To get the height changed from 18,000 to 15,000. This I have told you happened in 2003. This is a matter of record,” he said.

“In 2005 until 2007, when I was in office, not a single recommendation was made by the air force for a change in any requirement of this particular tender because whatever changes were made, were made in 2003, and after that, no changes were made,” Mr. Tyagi added. “Now, the allegation is that I changed the requirements, which you can see now is blatantly incorrect.”

Mr. Tyagi said he was in power when companies made initial bids for the helicopters but retired from the air force in March, 2007, before the selection process of the helicopter supplier, including flight trials.

“You do technical evaluation, you do flight trials, commercial negotiations – there is a process. Now, the final contract was signed in 2010. I had nothing to do with it because I was out of service. As far as I am concerned and if there is an inquiry, it will establish what happened. These are facts– undisputed facts.”

Mr. Tyagi also denied allegations he had extensive contacts with three European middlemen who Italian prosecutors allege channeled bribes from Finmeccanica executives to Mr. Tyagi’s cousins.

“My cousins know these people for the last 15-20 years,” he said. “Never in defense. they have been dealing with power. They are businessmen basically.”

He added: “Let me tell you, I met these guys at my cousins place. So, there is a connection.” One of the middlemen, “also claimed he met me six to seven times. I had met him at my cousins place okay. I met him post-retirement once. I exchanged pleasantries in my individual capacity,” he said. “He also said he came to my office, quite possible, delegations come to the chief’s office, so what?”

Italian prosecutors claim the middlemen “paid me to change these requirements. There is enough evidence to say that this is a total lie.”

Mr. Tyagi said the allegations impacted “the reputation of the air force, the morale of the air force.”

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